A tense peace finally fell on Ferguson, Mo., Thursday morning after a fourth night of civil unrest sparked by the racially charged police shooting of an unarmed black teen.

Cops dodged Molotov cocktails, fired tear gas, rubber bullets and smoke bombs and arrested two journalists late Wednesday in the mayhem that engulfed the troubled St. Louis suburb where Michael Brown, 18 was fatally shot by police.

Brown’s killing on Saturday has brought outrage in the town that’s two-thirds black but patrolled by a police force that has just three African American cops out of its 53 officers.

“I just wanted to know if I was going to be gassed again, like I was on Monday night,” Chappelle-Nadal asked. “We couldn’t get out, and we were peacefully sitting. I Just wanted to know if I’m going to be gassed again?”

But St. Louis County police chief Jon Belmar defended officers’ work in controlling the angry crowd, saying cops responded with “an incredible amount of restraint.”

“It’s pretty amazing how impressed I am and inspired by these officers,” he said. “This is a very difficult circumstance.”

The St. Louis County Police Department has taken over the investigation of the Ferguson shooting.

Scores of police from across Missouri donned riot gear and used military-style armored trucks to form a defense line outside the Ferguson Police Department headquarters where demonstrators had gathered.

Video: Washington Post reporter detained in Ferguson

Most of the crowd finally dispersed at about 2:15 a.m. local time, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Protesters raised their hands and chanted: “Hands up, don’t shoot.”

Dorian Johnson, a friend of Brown, has said the teen was shot to death while his hands were raised, telling an officer that he was unarmed.

A demonstrator quickly throws back a tear gas container after tactical officers try to break up a group of bystanders.Photo: AP

A police officer keeps watch over demonstrators protesting the shooting death of an unarmed black teenager.Photo: Getty Images

Johnson said he and Brown drew the ire of a cop because they were walking in the street and didn’t heed orders to get back on the sidewalk.

City police chief Jackson pledged that improving race relations “the top priority right now,” despite a growing outcry from Ferguson residents to release more information about Brown’s killing.

The police have not released the name the officer who shot Brown or the number of shots he fired at the teen.

“We have the right to know, and the family has the right to know who murdered their son,” said Sahari Gutierrez, a 27-year-old Ferguson legal assistant.

St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch pleaded for patience and said his office needs more time to probe the officer’s actions on Saturday.

“The timeline on this is there is no timeline,” McCulloch said. “We will do this as expeditiously as possible. But we won’t rush.”

The prosecutor said he appreciates the public’s demand for immediate action, but won’t hurry the process.

“I know that’s not the answer anybody wants to hear at this point,” McCulloch said. “Everybody wants to know what happened.”

The Rev. Al Sharpton said he called chief Belmar Thursday, and told him he believed police acted with “excessive force.” Sharpton was in town earlier this week, meeting with Brown’s family.

“I told Chief Belmar that I was outraged by what I have seen on TV since leaving Ferguson and that we must not have excessive force to deal with legitimate protest of excessive force,” Sharpton said.

“We want to solve the problem, not create new ones. Even if we disagree this climate is not good for anyone and is dangerous for everyone.”